Taste – the delivery, though controlled at first, is massive. Then, more like confusion as that smoke on the nose turns in to warming, full brown peat with a vague sherry trifle note. The vanilla hammers home the barley fruitiness to make for a bit of a free for all. Further flavours develop into an intense chocolate fudge middle which resonates through the palate.

Finish – dry peat and oak with enough molassed sweetness to the see the malt through to a satisfying end. Above all, the spices, rather than lying down and accepting their fate, rise up and usher this extraordinary whisky to its exit.